The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Pars look forward to Hampden visit
Nicky Clark’s last trip to Hampden is one he would rather forget – but he hopes this afternoon’s visit can be the start of a memorable Scottish Cup journey for Dunfermline.
The Pars begin the ‘road to Hampden’ at the national stadium against Queen’s Park, who currently sit bottom of League One, and are hopeful of making the current gulf between the teams tell.
Clark was last at the Mount Florida ground for the 2016 Scottish Cup final, but his 15-minute cameo for Rangers at the end of the match coincided with Hibs’ dramatic comeback to seal their historic 3-2 win.
He said: “Hampden’s a great place to play and the boys are looking forward to going there.
“It’s great to be involved in the Scottish Cup and it’s nice to kick things off at Hampden.
“Obviously, if you get to the semi and the final then you get to play there again.
“And, 100%, we want to get back there later in the tournament.
“Every competition you play in you want to do as well as possible and get to the later stages. That’s the plan for us and I think we’ve got a good enough squad to go far in this competition.
“I lost one and won one in the Old Firm games I played at Hampden, so I’ve got a 50-50 record there.
“But my last trip to Hampden (against Hibs) wasn’t great.
“It’s a place you want to go, especially at the end of the season when all the big games are being played, and obviously you want to come out on top.”
The former Aberdeen trainee, who has netted eight times this season, is hopeful of breaking his six-game sequence without a goal against the part-timers.
He added: “Personally, I thrive on goals and I’ve not got many recently, so I’m desperate to get back on the score-sheet for me and the team to do well.
“Goals win you games – they’re massive – and hopefully we’ll get back to scoring goals on Saturday.
“Sometimes you just need one to go in off your backside or something, and I’m sure once I get one I’ll kick on again and get another few.”